Should Home State Senators Be Able to Block Judicial Nominations?

I don’t have a strong judgment one way or the other on the specifics of these Senate rules, but TAPPED’s complaint hardly seems a principled one.

A Senator from a nominee’s home state had once been able to indefinitely block a nominee by placing a so-called “blue slip” on the nomination. Then the requirement changed, under Hatch as judiciary committee chairman, to both home state senators placing a “blue slip” on a nominee to block a hearing. Now Hatch is scheduling hearings on Bush judicial nominees over Democratic blue slips from Michigan.

Which is it? Are blue slips an important tool, or an abomination? Should all of a President’s nominees get hearings, or should Senate rules allow individual members to stymie the process? I believe there are reasonable arguments on both sides of this debate. The American Prospect seems to make whichever argument is convenient at the time, so it is of little help to me in sorting out the correct conclusion.

More From View from the Wing

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.

Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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